A Chance at Life
by Dawn of Chaos
Summary: What if... her story didn't end there? That even though she was a puppet - nothing but a tool - she was granted a beautiful opportunity. A rare blessing to be able to start anew sends one girl down a path with new friends. Despite being used and taken advantage of, now she can show her true potential and learn a new meaning for her life. - Warning: AR


Soft white flecks of light float upwards before fading out – disappearing completely. The source of the beautiful flecks lies cradled in a young boy's arms. The girl smiles up at him despite everything. Past the fact that she's not technically a person, that she's not even a "Nobody". But that she's a replica designed to steal away the power of this very boy, her friend. She knows she could never do such a thing and that the aching inside of her has to be quenched. She has to return to where she belongs – to the boy's heart she was designed to mimic.

She believes she'll have peace and that this boy won't remember her so he won't have to feel the pain he's feeling right now. Even though she can see he's fighting to remember, to never forget her even as he is. Her bright blue eyes show no signs of sadness, only hope. Short black hair falls to the side as she tilts her head, getting a better look at him. She reaches her hand up, gathering all her energy, to touch his face. But she only gets so close before she can't do any more. Her arm sails back downward only for him to grab at it, sending flecks flying out to disappear.

He talks to her, urging her not to "die" but to hang on. She smiles at him again, wishing she could have just gone after the battle so that he didn't' have to be in pain. Still, she takes a deep breath and prepares for what's coming. "It's okay… Roxas..."

In that instant she faded away with the young blond staring up into the sky to watch the flecks vanish – tears trailing over his cheeks. If only he knew about the path that laid before her, maybe he wouldn't be so sad.

Hard ground…

That's the first thing that registers in her mind aside from the fact that she can _feel_ it. Assuming that once she returns to Sora she won't have much other than a sense of self inside of his heart, if she's that lucky, she's surprised. Slowly she's able to comprehend that not only can she feel the ground beneath her, but the wind brushing over her form.

It's that, that makes her try to open her eyes. Her heavy lids struggle to open, but once they do she stares out across the pale cobblestone. She begins to push herself up onto her knees and does so just as slow; limbs weary from whatever sort of travel brought her to this place. Off the cuff, she begins to assume this is Sora's heart – the physical manifestation of where she'll be dwelling, as if a dream where she's still allowed to have a consciousness.

But she's never been here before nor seen any place like it.

She looks up to the sky and immediately she feels a sense of comfort. Somehow, someway, she feels as if she's where she's supposed to be. It's then that she rises to her feet and brushes her hands over her clothes – and dead stops. Everything is changed and she stares down at her own appearance. Gone is the black coat, signature of Organization XIII.

Her pants now stop past her knees and her coat acts more like a long shirt, zippers on the side to allow more freer movement if she was to engage in a fight. A yellow belt with a crown emblem rests on her hips while two more yellow belts crisscross over her chest – held by another emblem, this one unknown to her. Her boots are gone and are replaced with shoes that reach up just above her ankle. Metal arm is attached to the back of them while golden armor situates on the heels and toes; the shoe itself being black with a white stripe down the front.

She draws her hand up in front of her face. White, fingerless gloves with a yellow stripe around the palm, which connects to a gray accessory, rest on her hands. On her left arm she wears a black arm sleeve, going from her elbow down into the glove. Atop her bare shoulders she has a short black jacket trimmed in white with a hood. She glances past it to see a metal device on her left shoulder, the center of it yellow-orange. Gazing at it with curiosity, she reaches up to touch it – to see if it will do anything.

The sound of feet rushing towards her stops her from doing so. She turns around and her heart lurches in her chest, her breath constricting as she gapes at the boy running towards her. He looks so much like Roxas that she can't help but smile. His bright blue eyes shine cheerfully and his blond spikes, rising upward, sway slightly as he runs. Although everything else about him is completely different. He wears a jacket with a pleated red collar; one half of the jacket is black with white accents and the other white with black. Beneath that he wears a gray vest with white angular patterns and beneath that is a black, high-necked shirt. Even more so is dull green and gray armor on his midsection underneath the vest.

He skids to a stop and bends over, putting his hands on his knees clad in gray and black pants. Taking on the same color scheme his armor on his upper body are his shoes. To match that armor, he wears some on his left shoulder just as she does, for what reason she is still unsure. Further to match her are the straps over his chest, although his are black. He wears a single accessory aside from his outfit – a checkered wristband on his left wrist.

Recovering from his run, he stands up straight and raises an eyebrow at her. "Are you here to see Master Eraqus?" When she doesn't answer right away, still blown away by how much he resembles her friend, he points to the emblem on her chest. "You have the Keyblade Master emblem," he rubs at the back of his neck. "I just assumed you were here to see our Master."

"Our?"

"Sure! It's not just me here. Oh right, I'm Ventus." She can't help but get lost in thought. She's sure that the last thing she remembered was dying – she should have returned to where she belonged, to Sora. So then why is she here instead? His endearing smile draws her to calm her nerves and to leave her thoughts be. "What's your name?"

"X…Xion. Where am I exactly?"

Ventus is cut off just as he's opening his mouth. "This place is called the Land of Departure. Master Eraqus trains us, his apprentices, in how to become a Keyblade Master." The owner of the voice gets closer until she's standing beside Ventus. "Who's this Ven?"

Before Xion stands a girl appearing to be older than her. She wears a black and blue, high collared halter top with two pink belts intersecting over her chest – with the same emblem in the middle of them. Over the pair of black shorts, she has two strips of blue cloth that drape over her hips with a smaller white cloth tied around her waist. Her legs are clad in black stockings that reach up to her mid-thigh while she wears pointed, silver armored boots, with a hook on each side, on her feet. To cover her arms she wears white bell sleeves and fingerless gloves, a piece of armor similar to theirs attached to her left arm below her shoulder.

The blond boy beams back at his elder, "This is Xion."

The girl smiles politely at Xion, extending a hand towards her. "My name is Aqua. It's nice to meet you Xion." Xion shakes her hand lightly and smiles. She can't do much more than that as she tries to put all the puzzle pieces together. Even so, these people are nice to her and that helps her to relax. That is until Aqua raises an eyebrow at her. "If you don't know how the Master is, why are you here?"

Xion's brow knits together and she panics inwardly. "I… uh… I got lost and ended up here. I don't remember very much."

Even though she remembers everything, there's no way she can tell these strangers that; at least… not yet – if she ever can. If it's one thing being with the Organization taught her was to play it smart. Don't give out any details if you get caught. The memories of her friends, Axel and Roxas, do her well enough as much as she truly does miss them. She swallows hard and hopes that these two believe her.

Aqua smiles nonetheless, fully accepting of the excuse, and gestures for her to follow. "We'll take you to see Master Eraqus. There should be no problem with you staying with us for now."

So that's what they do. Following closely behind Aqua through the halls of the grand estate; Ventus chats with Xion, telling her all about his own training to become a Keyblade Master. But it's as Aqua leaves them at the entrance, going in ahead to brief their Master, that Ventus turns to her with a solemn look. "I don't have a lot of memory of before I came here either. But Terra, Aqua, and Master are very kind. We'll take care of you!"

The sweetness and pure earnest devotion – even after just meeting – almost makes her just want to tackle the boy in a hug. Her heart, if she believes she even has one of her own, constricts at the feeling of loss. Quickly recovering at the thought that Roxas did defeat her and he's alive – she gives a confident nod back to Ventus. As she does she feels a presence come up behind her.

A strong, firm hand claps down onto Ventus' shoulder before ruffling at his hair, "Hey Ven, who's this?"

Full of confidence, she turns to the young man that has a hold on the blond, "My name's Xion."

The man that stands in front of her seems as old as Aqua, if not a little older. He stands tall with a muscular build. He has a strong jaw with brown hair that reaches to the base of his neck; it's styled into messy spikes with bangs that frame his face. His blue eyes stand out and appear to be even more brilliant against his tanned skin. His attire however appears slightly different from his apparent friends.

He wears two red intersecting straps over his chest but does not wear the emblem on them, but on his belt instead. He dons a black skintight, high-collared shirt and odd tan pants that fan out around his legs. He also has a plain, black wristband on his right arm while his left arm has much armor on it – black, silver, gold, and dark orange – with a black fingerless glove.

His attention turns to Xion as she seems to fidget under his gaze; something about him seems oddly familiar, but she just can't place it. "I'm Terra," is all he manages to say as Aqua reappears.

"He'll see you now."

Xion falls behind her while Ven and Terra stay close. They cross the lengthy floor to get near the throne-like seats. Standing before them is an older man. He wears a white, red lined jacket that has a hood and light-colored pants that resemble Terra's. Beneath his coat he wears a navy blue shirt with a large, white X on the front. Like the three he dons a piece of armor and boots that are gold and black with dull blue-green. Like Ven he has armor over his midsection. Appearing to be a man that has seen many battles, he has jagged scars over his right eye and left cheek. His black hair is tied into a short, high topknot with one bang falling off to the right side of his face. He sports a short, triangular soul patch and mustache.

Aqua gestures towards her, "Master, this is Xion."

He smiles warmly at Xion as she gets closer. "Welcome to the Land of Departure. Aqua tells me that you have found your way here, but have no recollection of your travels." Xion nods calmly, worried that by keeping information from these people that she'll be in trouble if they find out. Yet no one seems concerned as he gives a thoughtful nod. "Please, feel free to stay as long as you need to. Aqua can show you to your quarters."

Turning towards her with a smile, Aqua makes eye contact with Xion before Terra and Ven. Master Eraqus begins to leave the room, leaving them. That's when Ven spins toward Terra with an excited look. "Can we train today?"

Terra nods, "Sure let's go."

As the two boys walk away, Aqua turns to Xion. "Want to watch them train before I show you around?"

"Sure," Xion says – excited to see others wield a Keyblade. From her knowledge, to wield one was rare and uncommon. That is why the Organization seemed to treasure her and Roxas. But in the same thought she can only wonder; what's the purpose of a Keyblade. She holds back a pout at all she truly doesn't know.

Instead she walks alongside Aqua, the older female showing her to a training area. Along the way Aqua points out several rooms and hallways that she'll properly show her later. It doesn't take them long to reach the open area bathed in the last rays of sunlight. The evening rays bathe the two boys as they finish sparring. Xion watches closely at the end of their battle; noticing how Ven is quick on his feet while his hits seem to be small compared to Terra who is slower but has stronger slashes. Even so, Terra easily knocks the boy off his feet, not too roughly, before extending a helping hand.

Aqua claps for the two of them as her and Xion walk over. "You did good Ven, you're improving."

He rubs at the back of his neck, "Improving hurts then."

Terra's hand claps down on his shoulder. "You'll get the hang of it." He looks over to Aqua, the previous win making him more than eager. "What do you say about a one-on-one?"

Ventus grins eagerly, "Come on Aqua, show Xion a battle!"

Aqua gives in easily and turns to Terra. Ventus motions for Xion to walk with him over to the side of the area to watch. The two older pupils put quite a bit of distance between them, both holding out their arms to summon their respective Keyblades.

The brunet's appears in his grasp through shimmering blocks and rings. The Keyblade appears much heavier and bulkier compared to the one Xion can wield. The hilt of his Keyblade is a blue-green while the shaft is all golden and dark brown. Aqua's is just the opposite. Her Keyblade is slim and appears much lighter; colored in shades of light blue and navy with a silver hilt.

The two barely waste a breath before they're charging at one another. Aqua, seemingly prime with magic, begins with an ice attack to distract Terra before she cartwheel's forward and slashes at him. But Terra easily blocks after making a rough dodge from the magic. He thinks fast though and decides to try something out of his usual preset of attacks. Back stepping quite a bit, he holds his Keyblade out – summoning a small fireball.

But he quickly realizes his error – forgetting that she can block it and send it right back. A transparent, shimmering shield is thrown up around her in preparation for the fireball's landing. Terra doesn't even have to dodge as the fireball sails off course and bounces off of Aqua's reflecting shield. Instead of surging forward, like she normally would, she stops dead in her tracks. Her head whips to the side with wide eyes, "Ven, Xion; watch out!"

The blond ducks and begins to scurry away, but Xion does neither. Her instincts take over as she has no time to do neither due to being closer to the fight than Ven. She holds her arm out, summoning the Kingdom Key to her grasp. Her slender fingers wrap around the blue hilt inside of the yellow guard. The silver shaft is brought up in a defensive position at the same time that Xion summons a block of ice.

The fire collides with the ice, resulting in the fire being extinguished and the ice shattering. The Keyblade blocks the small chunks of ice that fly towards her and Ven, which melt soon after dropping to the ground. For a moment no one dares to move as Xion lowers her Keyblade. Ven stares up at her in amazement from his position on the ground. Terra still remains dumbfounded, Keyblade held limply in his hands while Aqua stumbles forward a step from having stopped so suddenly. All their eyes are wide and surprised – but impressed.

The only noise that follows is the sound of a slow, loud clap coming from behind the two previously battling pupils. Master Eraqus calmly makes his way over to them, walking between Aqua and Terra to get to Xion. He towers over her, but his friendliness shines through his strict demeanor. "I'm impressed Xion, I was curious as to whether you were able to wield a Keyblade. The armor on your arm was a slight indication."

Unconsciously Xion touches the metal, glad to finally have an answer for that at least. She looks up at him but quickly looks back down, never being one to look her superiors in the eyes – not that the ones in the past had ever bothered to look at her too much.

"Thank you, sir."

"I'm curious though, who trained you?"

Her mind reels for an answer, something to tell this intelligent man. Finally she settles on the one thing that's not very suspicious. "I taught myself."

"I see… Then allow me to offer to train you. You have much potential; all you need is some proper training to refine your skills."

His warm smile is only seen as Xion slowly looks up at him, surprised at the offer. She quickly recovers and nods happily, "Yes, I accept s-…Master."

"Very well then, we'll begin tomorrow." He turns to leave, his eyes falling on his other two pupils. "As for you two, you did very well. However, Terra you need to work on your magic – your fire was too weak and uncontrolled. Aqua; as important as it is to be concerned for you allies, you must stay focused or else you leave yourself open. Be sure to work on your counters as well."

Both stand readily, dismissing their Keyblades, "Yes Master!"

Once Master Eraqus is gone from sight they all seem to break out into smiles. Xion immediately turns to Ven and helps him up. His own grin is even wider and brighter than her own, "That was amazing Xion! I never would have thought of that!"

Terra and Aqua walk over to them. The brunet nods in agreement, "That was fast thinking, you'll catch on quick."

"Congratulations Xion. Master does have an eye for talent. If you need help with anything, we're all here to help!" Aqua says as Xion dismisses her Keyblade.

Xion smiles at each of them, suddenly not so sad about having to leave Roxas and Axel – not to mention everyone else. "Thank you, thank you so much."

* * *

_; v ; I'm so happy to have been able to work with this commissioner again. So sweet and some lovely plot lines! So my dears, this was for DragonIroh over on deviantart. Currently running a special on Kingdom Hearts commissions (have to every once in awhile, I don't get enough requests for the fandom). A-Anyways...Hope it's loved as much as I loved writing it. For anyone interested, commission info is linked on my profile. ; 7 ;  
_


End file.
